- Islam in Asia
Islam began inAsia in the 7th century during the life ofMuhammad . The greatest number of adherents of Islam has lived in Asia since the beginning ofIslamic history .Medieval times
Muhammad
Islam began on the
Arabian peninsula by Muhammad (Sallahu Aalaihi Waalaihi Wassalam) in the 7th century. Since then it began spreading rapidly. Till his death (in 632), Muhammad (Sallahu Aalaihi Waalaihi Wassalam) managed to unite the whole of the Arabian peninsula into one country with Islam as the official religion.Islamic Golden Age
Some time after the death of Muhammad (Sallahu Aalaihi Waalaihi Wassalam), the
Islamic Golden Age started (approx. 750). It lasted till about 1258. This period witnessed the lives of many great Muslimscientist s andphysician s such asAl-Kindi orIbn Sina . It was also the time of the development ofIslamic philosophy . Many influential Muslim thinkers lived at that time. The most notable examples are: Al-Kindi ("father" of Islamic philosophy),Al-Farabi , Ibn Sina,Al-Ghazali and the last oneIbn Rushd . At that timeIslamic art also developed greatly.Today
Today, most Muslims live in Asia, although many of them exist in other parts of the world. The majority of notable Muslim religious leaders are based in Asia. Asian countries with high Muslim populations or high percentages of Muslim people, in comparison to the rest of the country, include
Afghanistan ,Bangladesh ,India ,Indonesia ,Iran ,Iraq ,Kuwait ,Lebanon ,Malaysia ,Oman ,Pakistan ,Qatar ,Russia ,Saudi Arabia ,Turkey andYemen .One of the important 20th century figures that developed Islam was
Muhammad Iqbal - aphilosopher . Another important Asian Muslim wasAbdullah Yusuf Ali , an Indian Muslim fromMumbai who translated theQur'an to English.
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